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The state of California attained a 155-acre parcel from Miss Mary Zudowski in 1950, which included all 9,124 feet of land beside the ocean. The Park Commission changed the name of the park from Parajo River to Zmudowski in 1952 in order to recognize the contribution this family made. This beach has always been a secret attraction to the Monterey Area. People from all over can come to participate in many of the activities listed above.

Saving Zmudowski
Earlier this year California had planned on closing 70 parks to cut money from the parks budget, since the deficit is already at $15.7 billion. Luckily, Zmudowski State Beach was saved from being cut because it does not require a lot of money to maintain. Back in 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that allowed $10 million to be used for the State Park System. This money will be beyond useful for the two Monterey County Parks- Zmudowski State Beach and Moss Landing State Beach, since they both received no donations.

Geography
Because of the location of Zmudowski State Beach, in Moss Landing, coastal upwelling plays a large part on the beach in the spring and summer. Winds from the north, along the coast blow south past Monterey, causing the surface water to be pushed away, and the water from underneath to rise, or “upwell,” and replace the surface water with nutrient rich water. This is why Zmudowski State Beach is such a great place to fish- the water has high biological productivity. Upwelling has fluctuated a lot in the past 20 years, effecting the fishing and wildlife at Zmudowski State Beach. All the upwellings, every spring and summer have been pretty strong, bringing in a lot of plankton and a variety of fishes. This beach is known for its fishing in the Monterey area.

Pajaro River Estuary
Zmudowski State Beach also features the Pajaro River Estuary, where a nature preserve exists. An estuary is quite simply a body of water formed where freshwater from rivers and streams flows into the ocean, mixing with the seawater. Estuaries and tidal wetland systems are some of the most productive and adaptive of Earth’s ecosystems. This area surrounding the beach is a tidal wetland, but back 10,000 years ago it did not used to be. The rising sea levels drowned the valley. Thousands of years later, sediment deposition transformed this area into a estuary. The transformation of the land into wetland and marsh actually began after the California Gold Rush. When the Americans arrived they cut down a lot of the trees to clear the land, and sediment continued to transform the wetland. Between 1870 and 1956, many levees were constructed within the Zmudowski Beach Region and near the Pajaro Estuary. The area, mostly salt marsh, decreased by 66% due to the levees. But, the benefit of salt marsh loss was the increase of four habitat types. When the early twentieth century came, more than 90 salt marshes were altered into habitats that man made ponds and marshes containing fresh water. Mid twentieth century the salt marshes continued to decline and were replaced with un-vegetated mudflat. By the late 1950’s almost all the salt marshes left were drained and used for agriculture. Today, all the land is used for tourist attraction and is a home for many animals.